IB DP: Digital Society: Concepts

2.1 Change

Change in DIGITAL SOCIETY is explored and investigated by diverse subjects, fields and professions, such as history, science and technology studies and future studies.

Change ~ areas to study:

2.1A Change is the evolution, transformation, adaptation or movement from one form, state or value to another.
2.1B Change involves understanding and evaluating people, ideas, objects and forces that shape the world: past, present and future.
2.1C The nature and importance of change is debated.
2.1D Change may indicate continuity or discontinuity with prior established ways of understanding or doing things.

Change ~ theories and frameworks that may be used to support conceptual understanding:

Models of technological change—for example, those that explore stages of research, invention, innovation and diffusion
Teleological and cyclical theories of change and history
Types of history, including cultural, economic, social, feminist, and so on

2.2 Expression

Expression in digital society is explored and investigated by diverse subjects, fields and professions, such as media studies, digital humanities, communications, languages and literature, the arts, film and art history.

Expression ~ areas to study:

2.2A Expression is the act, process or instance of representing ideas, emotions and/or experiences using different modes and media.
2.2B Expression serves many functions, including storytelling, world-building, artistic innovation and political activism.
2.2C Expression brings people and communities together while also introducing significant dilemmas.

Expression ~ theories and frameworks that may be used to support conceptual understanding:

Semiotic and structuralist theories and frameworks
Post-modernism and cultural studies
Performativity and performance theory
Media, reception and film theories

2.3 Identity

Identity in digital society is explored and investigated by diverse subjects, fields and professions, such as psychology, cultural studies, political science, social and cultural anthropology, sociology and philosophy.

Identity ~ areas to study:

2.3A Identity helps define a person, group, social entity and/or community.
2.3B Identity is not static but changes over time and according to context and the perspectives of others.
2.3C Identities are intersectional and may include aspects related to age, nationality, religion, culture, gender, sexuality, race, ethnicity as well as social and economic class.

Identity ~ theories and frameworks that may be used to support conceptual understanding:

Theories involving identity formation and the social construction of identity
Multiple waves of identity-centred scholarship such as feminist and/or LGBTQ perspectives
Conformity, stereotype and deviance theories
Transhumanism and post-humanism frameworks
Self-concept, social status and identity formation models

2.4 Power

Power in digital society is explored and investigated by diverse subjects, fields and professions such as global politics, social and cultural anthropology. political science, public policy, philosophy, sociology and law.

Power ~ areas to study:

2.4A Power is a feature of all social relations that involves a person’s or group’s capacity to influence or control the actions of others.
2.4B Power is structural and embedded within institutions, organizations and governments.
2.4C Power is not equally distributed.

Power ~ theories and frameworks that may be used to support conceptual understanding:

The major power perspectives: realism, liberalism, critical theories, relativism, universalism
Frameworks and approaches to power/knowledge
Theories about social control, hegemonic power, hard and soft power

2.5 Space

Space in digital society is explored and investigated by diverse subjects, fields and professions such
as mathematics, geography, design, social and architecture and urban planning.

Space ~ areas to study:

2.5A Humans organize, construct and represent space based on physical, geographic, cultural and/or social features (for example, into locations, regions, borders, zones).
2.5B Different Spaces often serve distinct functions for people and communities.
2.5C Access, movement and flows are significant considerations involving Space.
2.5D Space can be understood using multiple scales and dimensions, including local, regional, national and global as well as virtual.

Space ~ theories and frameworks that may be used to support conceptual understanding:

Theories and frameworks exploring the spatial turn in social science
Theories about social space, hybrid space and third space/place
Multiple waves of post-colonial scholarship

2.6 Systems

Systems in digital society is explored and investigated by diverse subjects, fields and professions such as sociology, environmental systems and societies (ESS), science and technology studies (STS), information science, computer science and design. Systems thinking provides powerful tools for understanding human, natural and built environments, and the role of people and communities within them.

Systems ~ areas to study:

2.6A Systems provide one way to think about structure and order in human, natural and built environments.
2.6B Systems involve sets of interacting, interdependent and/or interconnected elements.
2.6C Changes within a System of interdependent connections may
generate intended and unintended consequences.
2.6D Models, maps and visualizations can help us understand connections within and between Systems.

Systems ~ theories and frameworks that may be used to support conceptual understanding:

Systems thinking and complexity
Sociological theories involving structural functionalism, conflict theory, symbolic interactionism
Actor-network and rhizomatic frameworks

2.7 Values & Ethics

Values and ethics in digital society are explored and investigated by diverse subjects, fields and professions such as ethics, philosophy, world religions, law and public policy.

Values & Ethics ~ areas to study:

2.7A Values and ethics are ways to determine possible distinctions between right and wrong, fair and unfair, just and unjust, legal and illegal, proper and improper.
2.7B Values and ethics guide human action in the world, including individual and group conduct, and decision-making.
2.7C Values and ethics may be personal, shared, collective and/or professional.
2.7D Values and ethics are expressed through frameworks, codes, rules, policies and laws.
2.7E Values and ethics influence and shape ideas, objects, practices, systems and spaces.

Values & Ethics ~ theories and frameworks that may be used to support conceptual understanding:

The major ethical perspectives—including utilitarianism, deontological ethics, feminist ethics/ethics of care, virtue ethics, Confucian ethics, African ethics, ethical relativism, ethical pluralism
Ethical decision-making models